Dish TV Q2 net loss widens to Rs 15.07 cr

Direct-to-home (DTH) service provider Dish TV India's standalone net loss widened to Rs 15.07 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2014 due to a provision earmarked for a 'disputed' license fee.

The company had registered a standalone net loss of Rs 8.53 crore for the July-September quarter of the last fiscal.

Dish TV's net sales in the quarter under review stood at Rs 670.55 crore,up 12.13 per cent as against Rs 597.98 crore in the same quarter a year ago, the company said in a filing to the BSE.

The company said it has disputed licence fee demand of Rs 624.20 crore raised by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal had stayed and directed the ministry not to enforce it untill the next order.

For the quarter under review, Dish TV earmarked Rs 69.87 crore for license fee, it said.

Commenting on the results, Dish TV Managing Director Jawahar Goel said: "Buoyed by a healthy growth in HD (high definition) sales and good traction coming in from the sale of brand, the company further strengthened its position as the fastest growing DTH player in the economy."

Dish TV's ARPU (average revenue per user) has increased to Rs 172 per month during the first quarter, he added.

Dish TV added 3.78 lakh subscribers during the quarter ended September 30, 2014. It has a total subscriber base of 1.21 crore at the end of the period.

For the half year period ended September 30, the company posted a net loss of Rs 31.12 crore as against net profit of Rs 23.20 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Net sales of the company for the half year period ended September 30, rose to Rs 1,309.48 crore as compared to Rs 1,243.47 crore in same period in the previous fiscal.

Dish TV's shares closed at Rs 57.35 per scrip at the end of day's trade, up 2.69 per cent from its previous close on the BSE.